


we could live, and no longer just have to hear it.

by mucussoda



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic Character, Blood and Injury, Child Neglect, Coming Out, Gen, Headcanon, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Knife fights, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Trans Male Characters, Underage Smoking, candy is everyone’s mum, no beta we die like casey, unsafe binding, writer is trans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:14:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29506755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mucussoda/pseuds/mucussoda
Summary: very self indulgent casey-centric fic. if you don’t like it i don’t care. this is partially based on an au i made with my friend, but is mostly my own headcannons.
Relationships: Casey Hartley & Greggory Lee, Mae Borowski & Casey Hartley, Mae Borowski & Greggory Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi once again this was written by a trans person. also i really didn’t want to misgender/deadname casey, so i had to go off of descriptions, so i’m sorry if it’s repetitive (it’s only for the start of this chapter).

two teens stood precariously on a rotting log, slowly disintegrating under their feet. the sky threatened downpour, evident by the low rumbling surrounding the trees, but neither of them seemed to notice nor care. the metallic clinking of their knives echoed through the forest’s clearing.

“HA! get cut, nerd!” the fox exclaimed proudly, wiping the blood off of his blade with the hem of his t-shirt. 

“damn, you win this time, asshat.” the ginger cat retorted, assessing the damage done. definitely not the worst, but god it stung. 

“guyssss, i’m getting cold. can you hurry it up?” whined mae, who was lying on the ground, messing about with her own blade.

“yeah yeah, we’re done, you big baby.” gregg joked, jumping off of the log with a quiet “hup”, almost slipping. mae laughed at that, which earned her an exaggerated scowl from the fox.

the other ginger followed shortly after, silently fishing a lighter from a hidden pocket and placing a cigarette between chapped lips. 

mae watched as the tabby lit the end of the cigarette, exhaling a small cloud of smoke in the other direction, as an attempt to keep the other two from inhaling it. 

“don’t your parents get mad at you for doing that?” she inquired, peeling herself off of the dirt.

“they don’t care. and i mean, i’ve done worse.”

mae knew this. the hartleys weren’t exactly the most caring parents, and unfortunately some of their own habits had rubbed off on their children. mae had only been inside their house once, but the place had reeked of cigarette smoke and other unidentifiable fumes. she often wondered how her friend could bare to live in a place like that.

“so uh...y’all wanna go to my place? mario some karts?” gregg piped up, attempting to change the subject. both of his companions shared a worried glance, before the fox clarified that his father wouldn’t be home for a few hours. small sighs of relief could be heard as the trio made their way out of the woods and over to arbor street.

the lee’s had one of the nicer houses on arbor street. it was two stories tall with a well maintained garden, courtesy to mrs. lee, and showed fewer signs of decay than most houses. compared to the hartley’s house, it looked like some kind of mansion. 

the hartley’s house was not too far down the street, and stuck out from the rest like a sore thumb. their “garden” was a patch of dying grass littered with old bicycles and shingles which had long since fallen off the roof. one of their front windows was covered with haphazardly placed wooden planks, after being shattered by mae’s bat the past summer. the porch was slowly falling apart, and the paint was peeling. some would say that even the crackhouse at the end of the street looked more welcoming, and if asked, the gang would’ve agreed with you. 

as the three of them reached gregg’s home, he quickly stopped and turned to the taller feline, who was in the process of lighting a second cigarette.

“nope. cant do that here, dude. you know the rules.” gregg spoke softly, in attempt to not embarrass his friend, who often had to be reminded of the few rules other households had after growing up in an environment without any. 

the ginger sighed, tongue stuck out in displeasure as the partially lit cigarette was thrown on the pavement and extinguished. as long as it didn’t rain, it could probably be picked up and used on the way home. 

the gang was greeted at the door by mrs. lee. she was a kind woman, although seemingly stressed about anything and everything at any given time. she was on the shorter side, as fennecs usually are, and wouldn’t reach gregg’s height on her toes, but often made side comments about knowing how to use the shotgun kept in the attic. she made polite conversation with the teens as they made their way up the stairs, before being gently shooed away by her son.

the three of them sprawled across gregg’s room, mae snatching his beanbag chair and the other two sitting on the unmade bed. 

gregg and mae began talking about wavy dagger, a new metal band the three of them were into, comparing opinions on their newest album. 

“dude, did you see the music video they put out? it was like...-“ gregg trailed off, making vague hand gestures to get his point across.

“dude. of course i did. i had an alarm set and everything.”

“oh yeah, trust mae to be first to everything. i bet you’re just in it for the drummer-“

“i- i just like the music, okay?” mae retorted, giving gregg the middle finger. she looked over at their other friend, who was fidgeting with a small tear in the bedsheets.

“hey dude, what did you think?

“uh...it was cool, i guess. i dunno.” 

gregg and mae traded concerned looks. 

“you’re like...oddly quiet. are you good?” mae asked, her demeanour softening as she turned to face the taller cat.

“ ‘m fine.” the cat replied, gazing down at the carpet.

“hmm...yeah no, i don’t believe you. you never shut up for this long. what’s wrong, dude?” 

there was a moment of silence, before a hesitant “it’s...nothing-“

“nope. not buying it. you don’t gotta tell us what’s up, but like...we’re worried about you, duder.” gregg interjected, cocking his head slightly to the side.

“it’s just...i um- feel like a boy. like, i feel...wrong. i dunno. it’s not important.” he replied, running his tail between his fingers, still refusing to look up from the floor.

“ohhh...that’s cool, dude!” gregg beamed, his tail flicking against the bedsheets. 

“yeah! you got like...a new name or somethin’?” mae replied, equally as excited.

“oh uh- no. i kinda just...figured this out haha-“  
he mumbled, letting out a quiet sigh of relief at the unexpected enthusiasm. 

“oh, well that’s gotta change, dude-!” mae exclaimed, reaching into her pocket and retrieving her phone. the three of them sat together on the bed as mae pulled up a list of names. 

“dude, you could be like...a jack-?”

“nahnah, he’s more of a...liam.”

“...no that’s dumb- wait does this mean you’re gay-?

“...i think so?”

“fuck yeah dude!”

after a good half an hour of bickering, mostly between gregg and mae, they had reached the bottom of the list. they opted to take a break from names, and gregg turned on the radio sitting on his bedside table. the first song to play caught their attention.

_“so casey, casey, casey_

_just tell me when you’re ready, i’m all packed to go_

_on a search for that old place we found forever ago_

_when we could take my car, yes she still got the spirit_

_we could live, we could live, we could live, and no longer just have to hear it-“_

“...casey..-“ the orange cat murmured. “...yeah...my name is casey.” 

-

after a short celebration, gregg piped up.

“wait-! i have something for you!”

casey watched as he took a small stripey badge off of his jacket and pinned it to casey’s sweatshirt.

a look of confusion spread across his face.“...what’s this?” 

“it’s the trans flag, dude! i’ll get you a cooler one, but you can borrow mine for now.” he responded, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

for a few moments, casey stopped to process what had just happened. but once he did, tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

“those better be happy tears, case-“ 

“hah- they are, i promise.”

as tears began to fall, mae pulled everyone into a messy embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of the first chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey just a warning that this chapter contains references to/implied child abuse and neglect, so if you’re not okay with those themes i suggest you don’t read on.

_run._

_get out._

_he’s at the door._

_the windows unlocked._

_you planned for this, casey._

_just get the bag and go._

the pavement was slick with rain, illuminated by reflections from car headlights and streetlights, the only light source besides the lit cigarette between his teeth. his clothes were soaked through, weighing down on him as he ran. _god damnit, i can’t fucking breathe. shitty fucking bandages. just- get there and you can take them off or something._ his nose throbbed, oozing thick dark blood down his face and onto his shirt. he couldn’t tell if it was raindrops or tears blurring his vision, but it didn’t matter. he was almost there, and he would be safe.

-

gregg stared at the card at the top of the pile. he never seemed to win this game. 

“dude- you can’t stack +4s and +8s.” 

“says who?” mae retorted, a smirk spreading across her face. 

“the fucking rules! that’s who!”

“fuck the rules! fuck authority!” the cat exclaimed, throwing her fists into the air. gregg knew there was no compromising with her.

“fine. you’re cleaning the cards up then.”

“whatttt- that’s not fai-“

they were interrupted by a few panicked sounding knocks at the borowski’s front door.

the fox swivelled his head towards the door, clearly on edge. “...dude...are we in a horror movie or something-?” 

“what? dude, no. it’s fine, i’ll get it.”

“this is a horror movie! who the fuck would be at the door at...one in the morning?!” 

mae rolled her eyes. “well it’s a good thing i have a death wish then! i’m getting the door, stay here-“

gregg shot up the second he heard mae yelp, preparing for serial killers with butchers knives, or vampires thirsty for their blood, or zombies with missing limbs hungry for brains, or god knows what else. what he didn’t expect, however, was casey, hunched over on the doorstep and covered in blood.

“ho-ly shit dude. what the fuck happened-?“

casey stood motionless for a moment, before looking up and mustering an unconvincing smile. “well, i told my parents!”

the other two shot each other worried glances, before hauling him inside, bombarding him with question after question. as they sat him down on the sofa, he quickly covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. gregg had known casey long enough to recognise that he was going into sensory overload, and motioned for mae to back off. just as they were beginning to calm him down, footsteps were heard from the stairs.

“please keep the volume down, you two. it’s awfully late, and you have school tom- oh dear.” 

candy instantly rushed over, placing a gentle hand on casey’s shoulder. she quietly requested for mae to bring over the first aid kit, and motioned for gregg to pass her one of the blankets from their haphazard “fort”, quickly wrapping it around the shivering boy. once mae had returned with the first aid kit, she began carefully tending to casey’s injuries, with the other two hovering over her. once she was sure he was patched up enough, she began to speak, her voice soft and hushed.

“now, you don’t have to talk about what happened, but you are more than welcome to.” 

he sat for a moment, contemplating his options, before deciding that he could trust candy. his gaze fell to his bandaged hands, fidgeting with the gauze, before opening his mouth to speak. 

“i...um...told m-my parents that i um...that i’m a boy, a-and they didn’t...like that. and they um...kicked me out.”

“so you’re like...?” she trailed off, gesturing in greggs direction. casey gave her a short nod. 

“ah, alright. what’s your name?”

“...casey.”

candy gave him a small smile. “well, casey, you’re always welcome here, no matter what.”

-

the four of them spoke at length, trying to come up with some sort of plan, ultimately deciding that it would be best for casey to remain staying with the borowski’s until it was safe for him to go home. by this point, stan had also woken up, and was in the middle of a heated conversation over the phone with mr. hartley. 

candy had brought casey into the kitchen, both to prevent him from overhearing the phone call, and to grab him something to eat. until now, she hadn’t noticed the state of his clothing, far too small and littered with holes and snags, crudely sewn up with mismatched thread, the scent of cigarette smoke lingering in the air. his shoes were stained beyond repair and had been ripped, barely held together by strips of duct tape. 

“...casey? when was the last time you got some new clothes?”

he paused for a moment, counting on his fingers. “...seventh grade?”

“and what year are you in now..?”

“...junior, but i got held back.”

candy stopped to think for a moment, before continuing. 

“well then, we’ll go out first thing tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one ends kinda abruptly,, but i might make a third (and probably final) chapter after this.

**Author's Note:**

> i was going to include more in this chapter, but i’ll just make a second one instead lol (also hh i don’t have confidence in my writing so idk if this is any good or not-)


End file.
